Thrill seeker Kirsty Muir has revealed mountain biking is the secret behind her return to the Winter Olympic stage.
The 21-year-old freestyle skier had to put her Olympic ambitions on ice when she suffered an ACL injury in December 2023, also going under the knife to fix a shoulder issue.
Almost a year off skis meant the Aberdeen native had to get inventive to keep the adrenaline flowing, so she turned to two wheels.
“Our sport is very fast paced, on the go, all the time travelling here, there and everywhere,” Muir said.
“Having time at home, being told you can’t ski for this long, was tough. By the end of it, my hamstring wasn’t strong enough to ski when we originally thought, so I had to take another month of gym.
“That really taught me stuff because obviously I had that goal, it didn’t happen, I had to be patient and keep working.
“I found stuff like mountain biking was really cool. I really enjoyed it and still love it now. It was quite similar to skiing in a way, in the feelings you get from it and the adrenaline and the speed, everything.
“One of my ski coaches and one of my gym coaches were the two people I was actually doing it with, so it was encouraged.
“They trust I will only do stuff when I feel right. I feel I am quite calculated in that way, and when I feel like it, that is when I do it.
“With both of them there, they are experienced, so I can learn off them and get tips.
“They know that I need an outlet of some sorts so that was the best option for me.”
Muir was Team GB’s youngest athlete at her first Games in Beijing four years ago, finishing fifth in the Big Air event.
Now, she heads to Milano Cortina in February with medal expectations, having won her three World Cup golds since returning from injury.
There has not just been a shift in her results - Muir is much more confident in herself as a person.
She added: “Beijing felt very different, I kept thinking I didn’t realise how big it was then. I think I was a little naive, I was nervous, shy and kind of different.
“I have come out of my shell a lot more since, and I am excited for this one to be a very different experience where my family can come out and it is going to be way different.
“In the last year, or six months, we’ve been working on two things, one that [my approach] is more run-based and skiing-based rather than results.
“But also that it comes a lot more from me. A lot of the time, I would rely on my coaches to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing.
“Now we are trying to make it so that when I feel ready, that is when I do it. It is all coming from me a bit more, which I think is really cool and is some progress that we made.”
Sportsbeat 2026